


Dusk Eternal

by ByTheBi



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Light Angst, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-12 16:25:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18014294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ByTheBi/pseuds/ByTheBi
Summary: Saïx had never cared for sunsets.





	Dusk Eternal

Saïx had never cared for sunsets and because of that, he very pointedly did not care for Twilight Town.

There was no point to a place where one was forced to gaze upon the endless retreat of the sun without the solace of night’s arrival. Did the sun really have nothing better to do than to laze over the sleepy inhabitants of this town? And did the moon not tire of being ignored, eternally cast aside to live in the shadows where it could only stare at the sun’s never-ending curtain call?

It was frankly stupid, and Axel’s blatant preference for the town was even stupider still. 

After all, they were Nobodies, husks without hearts. He should know that he wasn’t any more likely to feel emotions awash in the jewel-toned sunset than he was in the monochrome walls of the Castle That Never Was. 

Saïx tried, once, to see the appeal of the Town. He left the castle in the dead of eternal night, arriving at the clocktower he knew Axel often visited with his new companions. He stared out at the sunset for hours, waiting for the quiet dusk to stir something in his empty chest. At what would have been dawn, he left, no different for the experience than when he had arrived. 

And so he tried again, a second chance in the town he could care less about, this time with a blue popsicle in hand, all because he had overheard Roxas discussing the salty-sweet flavor with his “friends.” He took one lick and let the rest melt away into a puddle. The stick reading Winner was tossed over the ledge dismissively; he had already had more than his fill. 

The third and final visit, Saïx didn’t stick around for longer than a few minutes. He had arrived on the edges of town where he saw all too clearly as Axel lead Xion and Roxas to the ice cream vendor, the three of them laughing at jokes he couldn’t hear. That day, Saïx turned his back of the sun as the first real emotion he had experienced in years bubbled in his chest, scorching his throat with its acidity. 

He didn’t have the displeasure of viewing the sunset until he was back in Radiant Garden, with little more to him than the name Isa and long-forgotten memories that crept back into his consciousness sporadically over the course of his first week of new life. Only the other former Organization members could empathize, taking turns talking him through the disorientation that came with regaining a heart. 

The triggers were sudden, often unavoidable, dragging him back into the past with such fury that he was left spinning afterwards. The lump in his chest grew heavier with each memory regained, but the weight was comforting despite the aches it brought. 

One of the worst ones though came to him at sunset, while he was standing on the balcony awaiting the full moon’s visit. Orange light blinded him, and suddenly he was thirteen, hunched over and guarding his stomach from the foot that reared back to kick him. He was thirteen again and miserable, one hand held out to shield himself from the sight of familiar crimson retreating over the horizon, or maybe from the vitriol spit at him from his bullies; it was an ineffective gesture either way.

By the time he came back to his adult self, his jaw was tight and his stomach hurt with the phantom beating he had just taken. But the moon was up and its gentle glow soothed him, reminding him of his growth since adolescence. His locked muscles, so much stronger now than they used to be, relaxed. 

Still, he kept the curtains closed after that, at least until he was certain that twilight had long passed. 

And yet, Isa knew it was impossible to avoid it forever. Lea loved Twilight Town; Isa loved Lea. Facts so simple and obvious that he would have been an idiot to think they would never return there someday. 

He allowed himself to be guided to the clocktower, grateful that their only company was a couple of bars of sea-salt ice cream and the townspeople moving like ants far below. 

The ice cream was delicious, creamy and sweet, with just a touch of saltiness that left him craving more. Sitting here with Lea, arms grazing everytime he brought the ice cream up to his mouth, he couldn’t fathom how he had ever not wanted this. 

Lea was strangely silent, apparently content to just share the moment with him. The sight of his profile, skin bathed in warm light made Isa’s heart clench so tightly that he couldn’t breathe. 

“I don’t like sunsets,” he admitted, breaking the quiet they had been sharing so peacefully. Despite his words, he turned his head away from Lea to stare out at the sky. 

He felt more than saw the look Lea shot him, heard the incredulity in his voice as he exclaimed, “What? Why not?”

It was hard to pick out individual colors in a twilight sky, Isa noticed. How unnecessarily complicated. “I don’t like the way it makes me feel.”

“And what is that?” Lea leaned in closer, as though they weren’t already pressed so close that their thighs touched. Isa couldn’t recall when he had last been surrounded by so much red that wasn’t blood. It stirred something up in his chest, familiar enough to recognize, yet too abstract to name. 

“I’m not sure,” he said sincerely, finally returning his gaze to Lea. “It’s a lot to untangle, to be honest. Sometimes, I’m not even sure I want to.”

Lea hummed. “I hear you. But in a way, I think that’s what’s so wonderful about it. The best things in life are a mess.”

Isa scoffed. “Like what?”

Mischief danced in Lea’s smile. “Well, ice cream for one.”

“Of course you would be so literal.”

“Hey now, I’m not finished yet.” Lea chuckled, his breath soft puffs against Isa’s cheek. “There’s ice cream, of course, but there’s a bunch of other things too. Like people. They’re all complex and all over the place, but they make you think they know what they’re doing even though no one ever does. Ain’t that just the messiest damn thing you’ve ever seen?”

Isa said nothing. He could feel his ice cream starting to drip down his hand, but it was hard to shift his focus off of Lea when he was like this, so open and earnest. So he gave up fighting it, instead leaning in, silently urging Lea to continue. He was close enough to notice the redhead’s blush, a rosy hue that had nothing to do with the sunset and everything to do with the moonbeam beside him.

“Loving someone is messy. It’s like sugar-- too much and even it can hurt,” Lea breathed, and this time Isa could practically taste the sea salt of the ice cream on him. He wondered idly if Lea’s mouth held onto its sweetness too. “And you’ll hate how it makes you feel, but it’s so worth it.”

“So what you’re saying is…” Isa swallowed, trying to dig out the words from the emotions scrambling his brain. “I actually love sunsets?”  
Lea licked his lips, nervous and smiling. “Maybe I’m just asking you to love them.”

The brush of their lips was so soft that he wouldn’t have been sure it happened if not for the jackhammering of his heart. He leaned in again, just to be sure, and when he closed his eyes, hazy pinks and reds danced behind his lids. 

“I think I already do.”

**Author's Note:**

> I humbly offer you all my first contribution to this ship. I'd like to do more for them in the future. 
> 
> Comments and concrit are encouraged! Also feel free to find me on twitter @bi_the_by or tumblr @peachylixir to gush about these two.


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